Ellen Pompeo on Gray’s Anatomy co-star Patrick Dempsey
Ellen Pompeo is not any stranger to creating headlines, however her newest feedback about Gray’s Anatomy co-star Patrick Dempsey have taken the web by storm.
The actress, who performed Dr. Meredith Gray for 19 seasons, lately sat down for an interview on Name Her Daddy, the place she mirrored on her wage negotiations and the gender pay hole in Hollywood.
Whereas discussing the early days of the present, Pompeo identified that Dempsey, who portrayed Dr. Derek Shepherd, initially earned greater than her—regardless of the present being centered round her character.
“He had done 13 pilots before me. Nothing personal to him, just in general, only a man can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote keeps going up, right?” she remarked.
Nonetheless, she shortly added, “But in all fairness, his quote was what it was. He was a bigger star than I was at that point. No one knew who I was. Everybody knew who he was, so he did deserve that money.”
Pompeo clarified that her frustration wasn’t with Dempsey himself however slightly with the community undervaluing her contribution to the present.
“I wasn’t salty about him getting what he got. I was salty that they didn’t value me as much as they valued him,” she defined.
“I see exactly how much Grey’s Anatomy makes for ABC/Disney. I get to see the number. It’s my face, it’s my voice… I am the Disney princess of that franchise.”
As anticipated, Pompeo’s feedback ignited a heated debate on-line. Whereas some supported her for talking out in opposition to pay disparities in Hollywood, others accused her of taking an pointless jab at Dempsey.
Critics on X (previously Twitter) labeled her feedback as “bitter,” with one consumer claiming, “She was no one before this show, and this show made her rich and famous… To now try and diss Patrick was really not needed.”
One other wrote, “He’s still a celebrity, and she’s still a nobody!” whereas another person commented, “No one watched the show for her, they watched it for McDreamy.”
Nonetheless, Pompeo stood agency, acknowledging the backlash and recalling the warning her supervisor gave her when she renegotiated her wage.
“He said, ‘Are you ready to be unpopular? I just don’t want you to think that everyone is going to go in and cheer for you and clap for you because there are going to be a lot of people that aren’t happy for you,’” she shared.
Trying again, Pompeo admitted that she hadn’t anticipated such a response however was in the end grateful for the recommendation.
“Generally, it is hard for people to celebrate other people if they have something that resembles something that they want,” she mirrored.
She additionally identified the double requirements within the trade, noting how male athletes are praised for his or her huge contracts.
“It’s a lot, and it’s patriarchy and it’s misogyny,” she mentioned. “Sports players are celebrated for their contracts. Not saying they’re not worth it, but I mean, it’s OK for them to celebrate it.”
Pompeo made it clear that her combat for honest pay wasn’t about asking for one thing she hadn’t earned.
“I don’t ever want something I don’t deserve… that I haven’t worked for,” she acknowledged, including that she had carried out her analysis into precisely how a lot ABC was cashing in on Gray’s Anatomy.
“It’s my face, it’s my voice. I’ve done so much work promoting the show all over the world for the past 20 years. I am the Disney princess of that franchise, so I have the data to back up. I know the show has generated this much money; I definitely deserve a percentage of that.”
When requested about the way it felt to return to set after securing her historic $20 million wage, Pompeo recalled noticing who celebrated her win—and who stayed silent.
“I was ready for it because of his comment, but what I saw was the people who didn’t say anything,” she mentioned.
“Then the ones who are quiet—you know who don’t say anything—and you see it, and you’re like, ‘OK.’ I don’t know what to say, don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
